Publications

Issue Archive

CompactPCI Steps Into the Future

Thursday, 01 August 2013

CompactPCI Serial has proven to
be a beneficial technology upgrade for a number of embedded
systems designers accustomed to working
with the legacy CompactPCI platform.
Not only does CompactPCI Serial
bring modern serial interfaces and a
ruggedized connector scheme into
play, but it also provides significant cost
advantages while adhering to many
known design principles, lessening a
developer’s need to learn a new and
complex technology.

It’s no wonder CompactPCI systems
have proliferated during the last few
decades. They can be built using standard
components and can run practically
any operating system as well as thousands
of application software packages
without modification. Because of this,
CompactPCI is a widely accepted — and
utilized — technology platform in
countless markets from telecommunications
and computer telephony to industrial
automation, real-time data acquisition
and military systems.

When CompactPCI started failing to
keep pace with current computing
requirements, it seemed a shame to just
toss aside a proven technology in favor of
a different computing scheme. Instead,
those computing needs were evaluated,
the platform was modified and a solid,
cost-effective, long-term solution was
formed, positioning CompactPCI as a
viable platform for applications well into
the future. Thus, CompactPCI PlusIO
and CompactPCI Serial were born.

A Trifecta of Computing Specs

Part of the quick adoption rate of
CompactPCI Serial (PICMG CPCI-S.0) is
due to its sister specification, CompactPCI
PlusIO (PICMG 2.30), which enables the
migration from legacy CompactPCI
(PICMG 2.0) to serial-based systems, as
time and money allow. CompactPCI
PlusIO forms a link between the old and
the new. This new family of specifications is
a well-rounded set that incorporates the
past, present and future needs of embedded
computing systems using CompactPCI
technologies (Figure 1).

From the beginning: As data requirements
in embedded systems began to
increase, CompactPCI systems were limited
to a parallel bus design, yet system
designers were being called on to provide
greater bandwidth and higher data
transfer rates among the input/output
(I/O) resources. Older systems could
not take advantage of the high-speed
serial point-to-point communications
needed to move all system information
along effectively.

The challenge was developing a new
standard that preserved the large number
of installed CompactPCI-based systems as
well as the knowledge base of designers
already familiar with CompactPCI, while
bringing systems in line with current data
requirements. This was addressed by
developing two separate standards,
CompactPCI PlusIO and CompactPCI
Serial, to move CompactPCI-based systems
into the modern era.

Designed with a purpose: CompactPCI
PlusIO was deliberately developed
using the same 19" mechanics as legacy
CompactPCI, while allowing for the
integration of serial-based systems.
This very calculated adaptation of the
original specification addressed the
challenges of maintaining existing systems,
and therefore the time and
money invested in those systems. It also
preserved the reliability, robustness
and maintenance-friendly attributes of
the original CompactPCI.

While compatible with the interim
CompactPCI PlusIO solution, CompactPCI Serial is geared towards completely
new systems based solely on serial communications.
But because of the link
through the CompactPCI PlusIO structure,
older systems can implement serial
technologies on an as-needed basis —
whether driven by functionality requirements
or budgetary considerations.

The pivotal change in CompactPCI
PlusIO that enables the legacy systems to
work with serial-based ones is the use of
an Ultra Hard Metric (UHM) connector
with specific features to accommodate
the performance demands of serial communications.
While accommodating the
high-speed signals increasingly required
in today’s embedded systems, the new
UHM connector still mates with the hard
metric headers currently used in original
CompactPCI system backplanes, enabling
operation in legacy systems (Figure 2).

Because the original hard metric headers
could not support high-speed differential
signals like PCI Express or SATA, the
UHM connector incorporates specific
physical features to accommodate the
needs of these higher data transfer speeds
— up to 7 Gb/s — without crosstalk. The
new connector includes individually
shielded pins as well as 100 Ohm impedance
suited for transmitting single-ended
as well as differential signals.

The original CompactPCI standard
called for a single 220-pin connector to
provide all power, ground, 32-bit, and
64-bit PCI signals. That connector consisted
of two halves — the lower half
(110 pins) called J1, and the upper half
(also 110 pins) called J2.

Backplanes use male (pin) connectors
and plug-in boards use female (socket)
connectors. User I/O pins were not
defined by the PICMG 2.0 standard. In
order to support serial communications
interfaces, however, CompactPCI PlusIO
does identify specific assignments for
the J2 connector user pins that
were reserved for 32-bit system
slots in the original standard.

CompactPCI PlusIO uses
these I/O signals to provide a
variety of popular interface
options to the backplane:

• 4 PCI Express x1 links
• 4 SATA
• 4 USB 2.0
• 2 Ethernet 1000Base-T

It can also support four PCI
Express Type 2 peripheral
boards.

CompactPCI Across the Board

As the technology platform has
evolved, CompactPCI has not only
maintained its foothold in the stable
base of applications where it has always
had a strong foundation, but has
branched out into new industry segments
requiring rugged, maintenancefree
computing that is scalable and
cost-effective. CompactPCI PlusIO and
CompactPCI Serial were developed for
much higher computing requirements,
a trend that is on the path of continued
growth for both existing markets and
those yet to be developed.

Manufacturing: CompactPCI has its
roots in the industrial sector, with many systems already installed and
functioning for several years.
Fluctuating production schedules and
facility needs often factor into daily
operations.

Manufacturing plants will typically
need to accommodate varying computing
requirements, making a modular
19" system that can go from
CompactPCI to CompactPCI PlusIO
and ultimately CompactPCI Serial
ideal. From a station master system on
the plant control level to redundant
station master units, the enhancements
to the CompactPCI technology can
handle all the capabilities for efficient
plant operation.

Transportation: The railway industry
is another good example of an industry
with strong ties to CompactPCI that
has developed in scope and is finding
new uses for CompactPCI-based technologies.
Today’s railcars are expected
to not only function efficiently and
safely, but also provide passenger conveniences,
such as telephony services,
up-to-date travel information, and
entertainment.

The same wireless networks running
uploads and downloads from personal
cell phones are exchanging train diagnosis
data with the depot, getting route
information and transmitting data from
surveillance systems.

With the incorporation of a CompactPCI PlusIO component, an existing system
based on CompactPCI can be
upgraded to serial as needed — in other
words, as travelers demand more data
access during their trip, as the number
of railcars sharing a track increases, etc.
This flexibility enables technology
upgrades without disrupting the continuity
of the application where original
CompactPCI hardware components are
still performing acceptably.

Another aspect of train travel that
requires flexible computing is the surveillance
system, now an integral part of
most railway operations. Not only are
images captured and stored on a digital
video recorder itself for security purposes,
but information needs to be sent in
real time between train and land-based
systems for non-critical activities such as
announcements, timetables, CCTV and
location updates.

Mobile networks: A newer industry that
has seen rapid development in the past few
years is mobile networks. Testing the
Quality of Service (QoS) globally for a single
network means system configurations
will differ depending on the location, leading
to various computing requirements.

And because of the different growth
patterns of mobile networks worldwide,
scalability is an important consideration.
Embedded systems based on
CompactPCI are not only used for the
preparation and execution of network
tests, but also serve as a central database
of those test cases and scenario libraries.
Most of these systems need to be operated
via a simple Web interface, as signal
towers can be situated in remote and
inaccessible locations.

Cinema: An important innovation in
the film industry was the incorporation
of a high-performance Intel mobile
architecture into the video cameras used
to shoot footage. Digital cinema camera
systems were no longer limited to the
dedicated hardware and now had the
flexibility of software upgrades and the
connectivity options available when
using a general-purpose embedded processing
platform.

Cameras based on embedded
CompactPCI, CompactPCI PlusIO and
CompactPCI Serial hardware can take
advantage of the sufficient ruggedization,
processing and graphics performance and IP connectivity benefits provided
by the technology platform. Filmmakers can shoot film footage directly to
disk at full HD (1920×1080) or greater
cinema resolutions (2048×1152), changing
the way movies are made.

This has also given filmmakers more
flexibility in locations they can use to
capture the footage they are after.
Shooting movies under extreme conditions,
like in deserts, can be a big
challenge for recording equipment,
but a rugged camera control unit
based on COTS 3U CompactPCI and
CompactPCI Serial will record reliably
in those harsh operating conditions.

The low power consumption of this type
of system will not only reduce heat from the
camera — a concern to the cameraman
whose ear is next to the unit for extended
periods of time — but also will extend battery
life for longer time in the field.

Not only are new application areas
employing CompactPCI Serial systems,
but with CompactPCI PlusIO’s ability to
marry legacy systems with serial-based
ones, traditional industries are migrating
older, established systems to ones
that offer the latest technology requirements
(Figure 3).

In the Winner’s Circle

The path for CompactPCI-based systems
is clear. Designers will long be able
to develop systems that can build on the
existing infrastructure that’s already in
place while moving to newer, faster systems
as the demands of the application
shift. Modern serial technologies expertly
combine with CompactPCI’s costeffective
robust structure for newer systems,
making new inroads for this technology
platform as well.

This article was written by Barbara Schmitz,
CMO, MEN Mikro Elektronik (Nuremberg,
Germany). For more information, visit
http://info.hotims.com/45606-401.

Question of the Week

This week's Question: This month, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed long-awaited rules on the commercial use of small drones, requiring operators to be certified, fly only during daylight, and keep their aircraft in sight. The ruling,...